Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are in wedding-planning mode, getting ready for their May 19 nuptials
at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle. But before that, Meghan has to get into full
royal mode. Perhaps most importantly of all, Meghan must get in good with the Queen, her
future grandmother-in-law and head of the royal family.
We know Markle gets along well with her future brother and sister-in-law, Prince William
and Kate Middleton, but something we don’t hear a lot about is what the former Suits
star’s relationship with Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, is like. In fact, while
they have attended events together, the two have not been photographed side-by-side. Moreover,
Her Majesty raised some eyebrows and was accused of throwing shade in mid-March when she gave
her official consent for Harry and Markle to marry.
Here’s what you need to know about the Queen’s relationship with Meghan Markle.
Katie Nicholl, author of Harry: Life, Loss,
and Love explained that she was very interested in how the queen felt about Markle since she
isn’t “a conventional royal fiancée.” “When you look at Meghan on paper she is
not necessarily what you might expect of a conventional royal fiancée and that she’s
American, she’s a well-known face,” Nicholl said.
She added that since the queen is from “a certain generation” she just had to find
out how Her Majesty felt about the fact that Markle is an American divorcee, who filmed
some steamy scenes during her time on Suits.
Meghan first met the Queen in September 2017
at Balmoral Castle, and things apparently “went well," leaving Harry pleased about
how his girlfriend got along with his loved ones. And it turns out that was the first
of several meetings. In the couple’s big post-engagement interview,
Meghan said she had met the Queen “a couple of times” and Harry had prepared her for
what the meeting would be like. “It’s incredible. I think to be able to meet her
through his lens, not just with his honor and respect for her as the monarch but the
love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important
for me." She added, "When I met her I had such a deep understanding and, of course,
incredible respect for being able to have that time with her, and she’s an incredible
woman.”
On March 12, the two made their first appearance together—along with other senior members
of the royal family—at a service at Westminster Abbey celebrating Commonwealth Day. Harry
and Meghan were seated directly behind the Queen and Prince Charles for the ceremony,
which featured a performance by Liam Payne and celebrated the Commonwealth, which makes
up 53 countries around the world and is headed by the Queen.
Prince Harry had to get the queen’s official permission to wed Markle because under the
Royal Marriages Act 1772, all descendants of George II must do so. Therefore, on March
14, 2018, the Queen gave her official approval for Meghan and Harry to get married: "My Lords,
I declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between My Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince
Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan Markle, which Consent I am causing
to be signified under the Great Seal and to be entered in the Books of the Privy Council."
Some people suggested that this was less enthusiastic than the Queen’s announcement about Kate
Middleton, in which she called her “trusty and well-beloved.” But that was in a separate
document, and the announcements for both princes were actually extremely similar.
Also in the post-engagement interview, Prince
Harry noted that the Queen’s beloved corgis have never liked him—but they love his fiancée.
“The corgis took to you straight away. For the last 33 years, I’ve been barked at,
and this one walks in, absolutely nothing, just wagging tails,” Harry joked. “Just
laying on my feet during tea, it was very sweet,” Meghan said. And it makes sense,
because Meghan is an animal lover, who had two rescue dogs of her own at one point. (She
reportedly had to leave one behind when she moved to London to live with Harry.)
The queen is reportedly a fan of Markle and
does approve of Harry’s relationship with her.
“Everything I heard from the sources I spoke to was that she really felt from the outset
that Meghan was a positive person in Prince Harry’s life,” Katie Nicholl shared, adding
that the queen has been “very supportive” because she knows how happy Markle makes Harry.
Another sign that points to the queen being
fond of the former actress is that she invited Markle to join the royal family for Christmas
festivities in 2017. That was such a big deal because no other
fiancée of any royal — not even Middleton or Princess Diana — had been permitted to
do so before they were married to their husbands.
Meghan has been meeting with the monarch to
talk about the particulars of planning a royal wedding, including flower arrangements. “She
is very hands-on with everything,” a source said of Markle. “She met with the Queen
who wanted to talk through some ideas for flowers and introduced her to some of her
events staff. Meghan is taking everything on board, but she has her own ideas when it
comes to flowers.” The palace officially announced Phillippa
Craddock as the official florist for the royal wedding. It looks like Markle and the Queen
have great taste.
It seems that Markle will fit in well with
the royal family when she marries Prince Harry on May 19, 2018. In fact, she and the queen
have some things in common that might be displayed at the upcoming wedding.
Both Markle and Harry’s grandmother enjoy gin-based beverages. The queen prefers a gin
and Dubonnet while Markle drinks “a negroni to cap off the night.” Each of the women
also really loves chocolate, so perhaps they’ll be sipping gin cocktails together while sampling
a chocolate perfection pie at the reception.